ISA stocks & shares - when to invest?

Freddie_archer

I wonder what the opinions out there are? Will the stocks & shares remain pretty static as they are, go down, or take off upwards.
As they are, it seems a lot of risk, for a minimal return - premium bonds look better.....
Thoughts?

underground99

I wonder what the opinions out there are? Will the stocks & shares remain pretty static as they are, go down, or take off upwards.

Generally stocks stay flat, go down, or up, at different points in time. All of those scenarios will probably be correct if you give a long enough waiting time for each outcome.

If you asked a cross section of investors what 'the opinions out there are' you would get a mix of views. Such views are what move the markets, every moment.

As they are, it seems a lot of risk, for a minimal return - premium bonds look better.....
Thoughts?

This seems like a classic troll post.
How do you know that the returns from stocks and shares investing over a lifetime will be 'minimal'? Premium bonds do not guarantee any income return at all and the prize pool expressed as an interest rate is set below the government's stated inflation target;  so as an investable asset they are incomparable to stocks and shares.

Takedap

Freddie_archer said:

I wonder what the opinions out there are? Will the stocks & shares remain pretty static as they are, go down, or take off upwards.
As they are, it seems a lot of risk, for a minimal return - premium bonds look better.....
Thoughts?

Is it the same as planting a tree?  If so, the best time was 20 years ago.  The second best time is today.

green_man

Ideally the best time to invest for stocks and shares is: frequently and long term. This way you remove the vagaries of stock timing and the probability of stock investments being worse that premium bonds over the longer term is near nil.

Thrugelmir

Never invest in something that you don't fully understand. 

bostonerimus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK5zqikbfUw

steampowered

Freddie_archer said:

As they are, it seems a lot of risk, for a minimal return - premium bonds look better.....

????? Why do you think stocks offer "minimal return" ????

The average return generated by the major stock markets, whether you look at the last 10 years or the last 50 years, is about 7.5% per year. 

Last year (2020) the S&P500 returned 15.76%

Premium bonds return less than inflation. They are only suitable for short term investing where you expect to spend the money in less than 5 years. If you want to keep the money longer than that you should really be investing.

Downandoutinbeverleyyorks

steampowered said:

Premium bonds return less than inflation. They are only suitable for short term investing where you expect to spend the money in less than 5 years. If you want to keep the money longer than that you should really be investing.

Premium Bonds are paying more than most savings at the moment, though you're unlikely to get the 1% unless you have a lot of them. I've had investments that have lost money over 20 years, in cash terms - halved in real terms, and none have done well. My fault for not moving the money though there were mitigating circumstances, but it's not the guaranteed win people suggest. I recently put a little money into what was supposed to be a pretty safe S&S ISA and immediately lost 5%. A 'moderate risk' pension with a huge provider has barely matched inflation over the last few years. I've become so risk averse that I keep nearly all my money in the building society and sleep better for it. Just bought more Premium Bonds too. Effectively zero chance of winning a million but the money's safe.

The_Fat_Controller

I used the modern missile strategy, fire and forget !
I picked a good solid Investment Trust and fired in the maximum allowance each tax year since ISAs were introduced.
There have been a few roller coasters over the years but as I've never sold anything I did not incur any losses and the overall annual performance is over +6% tax free and the latest valuation is over £900,000.
With inflation as it is and set to rise, only keep cash if you are really likely to need access to it.

eskbanker

Downandoutinbeverleyyorks said:
I've had investments that have lost money over 20 years, in cash terms - halved in real terms, and none have done well. My fault for not moving the money though there were mitigating circumstances, but it's not the guaranteed win people suggest. I recently put a little money into what was supposed to be a pretty safe S&S ISA and immediately lost 5%. A 'moderate risk' pension with a huge provider has barely matched inflation over the last few years.

What specifically have you been invested in?  Many have been discouraged from the principle of investing after making poor choices - sensibly diversified investments should achieve reasonable growth over realistic long-term timescales, so your recent immediate loss isn't relevant and modest growth "over the last few years" isn't necessarily indicative of anything, but losing over twenty years would be unusual if avoiding individual stocks....

MaxiRobriguez

FTSE100 has gone nowhere for 4 years, even including dividends. Chances are the poster is positioned heavily in UK equity.

More global outlook would have yielded significant returns.